One of the more refreshing things I ve read today is that ___________.

One of the more refreshing things I read today is that many of the human genes are brought about by viruses.

Usually when it comes to viruses, they are terrible, ranging from cold viruses to HIV, Ebola and so on.
However, viruses may play an important role in evolution!
The virus is called Endogenous Retrovirus.

The story is that, long ago, a virus infected our ancestors, and many infected individuals fell ill and died. But something strange happened to some individuals — the virus suddenly coexisted peacefully with its host, even injected into the genome of future generations in some way (such as infected sexual organs and embryos).
These viruses then reproduce themselves silently, mutate and fuse more closely with the human genome. Some of them have been deprived of most of their original DNA, leaving only the key genes for self-replication.
Moreover, some viral genes also play an important role in human survival and development, such as an endogenous retrovirus called HERV-W, which can synthesize a protein to make placenta. Without this virus, we would not have been born.

The most amazing thing is that these viruses continue to mutate and become part of the human body; however, researchers have synthesized the original version of viral DNA by comparison, and found that these synthetic "original" viruses can continue to infect humans. The virus entered the ancestral genes of humans and many mammals 100 million years ago and can now be found in the DNA of horses and anteaters.

Interestingly, people first found the inspiration to study retroviruses in a legendary animal called the "staghorn rabbit" (long horned rabbit?). This legendary rabbit should be infected with papillomavirus. The virus is also a retrovirus that "modifies" animal genes, which, if not correctly modified, can cause cancer and give rabbits horny skin that looks like horns. (Honey sprouts, pictures are imaginary pictures wwww)

The above is actually a new book A Planet of Virus by Karl Zimmer, a New Yorker science columnist (very famous), translated by the @Orange Helper. The book is thin, non-biological, professional and friendly, and can be read in one night, and… Very refreshing recognition…! (Also sent a virus image art sticker, but no introduction, bad reviews)

I was struck by a remark: "There is no distinction between them and US – organisms are essentially just a bunch of DNA that is constantly mixing and twinkling. "It’s so appropriate!